Preschool Lab at OCC Is a Long-Sought First

Amid the sights and sounds of children at play, babies and toddlers will be getting in some serious learning in a new building that opens next month on Orange Coast College’s campus in Costa Mesa.

So, too, will adult college students, who will be observing the youngsters and thereby gathering skills to become preschool instructors.

The new Early Childhood Lab School, the culmination of a 10-year dream of Orange Coast College officials, will be the first preschool training laboratory for teachers at any of the state’s 107 community colleges.

“It took us a good 10 years to get the Legislature to approve this project,” said Katie Elson, OCC’s early childhood-education coordinator.

When the modernistic, $800,000 facility opens Aug. 24, 97 preschool children will get care and guidance from college instructors in this school within a school.

Watching Through Windows

College students majoring in early childhood development will be able to watch them and take notes from adjoining rooms through large plate-glass windows.

“The college students will be watching master teachers who will be working with the children,” explained Connie Hornyak, director of the lab school.

The lab will be accepting youngsters from all over Orange County for the model preschool, Elson said. “The school is open to any child, not just to the children of faculty and students,” she said, but added that about 25 of the 97 available slots already have been filled by early applicants.

With the trend toward more and more two-career couples, preschools have become a big business throughout the country, and Orange Coast is prominent among the community colleges that train teachers for these schools. “We always have more job openings available than we can fill with our students,” Elson said. “There’s a big demand.”

In the past, Orange Coast College used nearby private preschools as places for its college students to go and observe teaching skills and children’s behavior.

School Wanted Its Own Lab

But Elson said Orange Coast officials have long desired to have their own on-campus, college-owned preschool that could also serve as a laboratory.

For the last decade, however, the state Legislature routinely rejected funding requests for the proposal.

“The Legislature said our proposal was just for child care, that it wasn’t really an instructional program,” Elson said.

The State legislators’ assumption that the building would be “just for child care” was a mistake, said Elson and Hornyak, who noted that the college has long had an on-campus day-care facility for children of faculty and students. That day-care center facility, which is located in another part of the campus, will continue.

College officials had to work hard to get across the message that the proposed lab was to be “a school--a place for instruction of our (college) students,” Elson said.

“We changed many aspects of our proposal and rephrased our goals. And we also had some very good help from our legislators, including (state) Sens. John Seymour (R-Anaheim) and Marian Bergeson (R-Newport Beach),” she said. “Finally, the Legislature agreed it was a good idea, and it was approved about a year ago.”

Orange Coast College has about 500 students each year taking courses in early-childhood education. A few of these students are training to be nannies--persons who care for children in the children’s homes. But most of the students plan to teach in preschools, or start their own such facility, campus officials said.

The state requires a minimum of 12 credits in early-childhood education courses for a person to be able to teach in preschool. Orange Coast College, however, encourages students to take wide range of courses, and to pursue either a certificate, which requires about 30 credits, or an Associate of Arts degree, needing about 60 credits.

Graduates with certificates or an AA degree can make more money in the preschool industry, say OCC officials. Depending on levels of education, a preschool teacher can make a salary ranging from $5 an hour to up to $11 an hour, Elson said.

Among the courses that OCC students take is a first-aid class designed especially for the needs of young children, Hornyak said. “Another course is on the feeding of young children (and) one course is about child development from birth to adolescence.”

The training is necessary, college officials said, because child care is an exacting, demanding job. “If someone is not familiar with child development, that person could make mistakes in caring for the child,” Hornyak said. “For instance, a person could think a 2-year-old was being troublesome or stubborn, without understanding that the child’s behavior was appropriate for his age.

“And another young child might have a strong curiosity. Our teachers learn how to enhance those traits, to let the child with strong curiosity explore things that are safe, but that help his learning.

“People who don’t understand children can misinterpret their behavior as being ‘bad’ or as being ‘troublemakers.’ Our (college) students learn how to understand children.”

Youngsters ranging up to 5 years of age can enroll in the new lab school for a maximum of three hours a day. Morning sessions will be from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. Monday through Friday; afternoon sessions on week days will be held from 12:30 to 3:30 p.m., with evening sessions on Monday through Thursday from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m.

Cost of the program ranges from $68 to $153 a month for children ages 2 to 5, and from $75 to $187 a month for infants and toddlers under 2. Babies will not be accepted under 3 months of age. Enrollment information is available by calling (714) 432-5517.

The Lab School will be a brightly lighted building, with vaulted ceilings, interesting designs and extensive use of polished wood. “Wood is a natural, warm material that makes children feel good,” Elson explained.

Windows at the school go almost to the floor, so that even babies can crawl across the floors and peer out. Play areas circle the school, which is located off Merrimac Way, near Fairview Road.

“We’re so proud of the school,” said Elson, as she stood outside looking at the newly finished building. “It’s the only one like it in California. And now that our community college has made the breakthrough, more community colleges are applying to get labs like this from the state for their program,” she said.

“We think this is a big breakthrough for early-childhood education.”